Tuesday Night and Wednesday Morning

It’s the beginning of January, and I get to ride my bike. Crazy. I have been pedaling around town and feeling great. It’s brisk, but good. Much as I like to walk, you can really cover some ground with a bike, and still keep an eye on things. Curtis was on his bike all morning, too. I know this must seem like a strange church.

Last night, after some visiting (hit and miss; one guy told us when we knocked, “no one’s here.” Can Yogi Berra do any better?), Jessica and I went on a strange ride. We were looking, as well as you can, in the dark, for open lots where we can do some gardening. And then I showed her the three apple trees I know of in town, where you can get a five finger discount. I got to know these trees 12 years ago now, when I lived downtown and roamed the streets. I have thought about making a map that is a survey of edible plants in town. A sort of hobo’s map, if you will. Anyway, she got my nickel tour of a certain section of town I know well, showed her the best mechanic in town, and then the apple that grows in a secluded corner (if a branch gets over the sidewalk, it’s fair game, or so I like to think…). Then came big drops of rain. Cold, almost spring-like. We made a break for it, laughing and getting wet. It’s hard to explain—it’s good to be with someone who knows how to have a good time, who thinks that looking at bare apple trees on a winter’s night is fun.

In prayer and fasting today, 8 people. Andres (our new pastor in the Hispanic service) and Juan Carlos (a pastor from Cuba) joined us and mentioned that Wednesday is their day of fasting, too. Praise God. Let me just say, as I so (too, to some people) often do: Jesus says the same thing about fasting as He does about praying: “When” (not “If”) you do it. No one would ever say, “I don’t feel called to pray,” but they have the guts to say that about fasting. Andres busted out an accordion and started playing. He said it was for “Culto mobil,” “portable worship,” on the street.